Residents claim they are being forced to live with the stench of death after a corpse was found in their council flats - and no one cleaned up after it.

Barry Williams found the remains of the man, who is thought to have died from cancer and to have been aged about 40, on Sunday afternoon.

After noticing a bad smell in the area he climbed up a ladder to peer into the man's window and spotted the corpse sat bolt upright on the sofa.

He called the police who came and removed the body from the flats in Highway Close, Brighton, at about 6pm.

He had been there for about six weeks and a large number of flies were in the property.

But Mr Williams and his neighbours say the home has still not been cleaned and that the "overwhelming" smell of the corpse still lingers heavily both inside and outside the flats which are home to a number of children.

He said: "We are being forced to live with the stench of death because nobody has come to clean it up.

"All they've done is open the windows to give it an airing.

But it needs far more than that.

"This guy was rotting on the sofa."

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, added: "It is absolutely disgusting. My kids play around here and they're doing it with this smell of a dead bloke hanging in the air.

"It's bad enough for me and the other people here to put up with, let alone having the kids exposed to that sort of thing."

It is not the first time Mr Williams has found a corpse in the block of flats.

On Christmas Day 2006 he discovered an old man in the flat above him had died and was decomposing.

He said: "I'd warned social services that he needed some extra care because he was struggling.

"Again I could smell it and the police broke the door down and found him.

"That time it took the council a week to clear it up. We're having to go through the same thing again, not knowing when they're going to come and help us. It's a nightmare."

Sussex Police said a post mortem examination of the man's remains was to be carried out. A report is being prepared for the coroner.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council was not available for comment.